ISBN (hardback): 1-59414-275-0

Out of print. I have both hardback and trade paperback copies. Cost is $17.85 for the trade paperback and $26.25 for the hardback + shipping. Click here for more information.

Date of story: July and August 1972 Location: Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Type of mystery: traditional. Some strong language—come on, these are soldiers. Minimal gore. Focus on characters and relationships. Ambiance of the military in the early 1970s.

Some Welcome Home

First book in the Elizabeth Pepperhawk/Avivah Rosen Viet Nam veteran mystery series.

Captain Elizabeth Pepperhawk survived Vietnam, but will she survive Fort Bragg? Whoever dressed a body in a World War II uniform, and put it in her bed at Normandy House, wants to shorten not only her military career, but her life.

*****

A man, wearing an MP helmet and side arm, and carrying a walkie-talkie, hurried through the front door, letting the screen bang behind him. He demanded of the desk clerk. “Which room belongs to Captain Pepperhawk?”

The clerk, a thin, young woman in a black skirt and cream blouse, pointed in her direction. “That’s Captain Pepperhawk. She came down here about five minutes ago and told me not to go to room 106. Is there a problem?”

Oh, yes, Pepper thought, there is definitely a problem. The man crossed the small lobby toward her. She stood.

“I’m Specialist Ramerez. You called us? Something about a body?” It was a Mexican-American accent, probably Texas border country.

“This way, please. I assessed him to see if CPR would do any good, but he’s quite dead, pupils fixed and dilated.” Pepper realized that she was using the same tone she would use to show visitors to a patient’s room. He must think she was crazy. Maybe she was, but she wasn’t going to break down. She’d seen bodies before.